February 28, 2006

After Judge Michael Silverstein ruled No Punitive Damages in the Rhode Island (RI) lead paint trial, the defendants' stock shot up and the media coverage was more optimistic about the long-term outcomes of this landmark case.

The defense in the landmark Rhode Island (RI) lead paint trial is bouncing back after it got convicted of substantially contributing to a public nuisance by the jury verdict last Wednesday. Yesterday the three defendants, Sherwin-Williams, NL Industries and Millennium Holdings, argued in front of Judge Michael Silverstein against punitive damages. Today, Judge Silverstein dismissed any punitive damages. Wall Street rejoiced. This ruling will make the defendants' stock look much better than it has since the verdict came in. What this means is that there won't be punitive charges on top of the cost of abatement of the public nuisance.

Last week I spent one hour with the hungry bunch at a Manhattan upstart marketing firm. No CorporateAct/CorporateSpeak there. No deference to rank or titles. Instead everyone in the room wildly shared our takes on where blogging is going, how financial-services firm should position themselves in an era when most research is a commodity, and making websites a pull versus push force. Solid ideas along with a good handle on trends make everyone equal, don't they.

Score a homerun for Hillary Clinton. Using the term "obsession" in connection with a well-known personality like Karl Rove immediately creates a question mark about the latter. It's commendable to be obsessed with our work. It's amusing to be obsessed with chocolate. But obsessed with another human being? That's scary.

Maybe we always had to figure out for ourselves how to manage our careers. It could be that we simply had the illusion that mentors, superiors, well-intentioned friends, coaches and, yeah, parents had the answers about what we should be doing and not doing. But, with so much change in the work world and those who could help us connect the dots running scared/overwhelmed themselves, we are being forced to figure it out ourselves. But, from my real world experience and attempting to coach unemployed executives, few seem to be recognizing that they better get busy finding the pieces and putting them together.

February 27, 2006

Today, the three defendants in the Rhode Island (RI) lead paint trial argued in front of Judge Michael Silverstein against the imposition of punitive damages via two strategies. The three defendants are Sherwin-Williams, NL Industries and Millennium Holdings. Charges against Atlantic Richfield were dismissed by the jury last Wednesday.

Journalists, don't cry for the public relations pros you might find you have to hammerhammerhammer. According to executive-search firm Korn/Ferry International, Chief Communications Officers (CCO) in the Fortune 200 get an average base salary of $335,000, plus an average bonus of $245,000. That adds up to an average yearly whopper of $580,000. (This information and more is available on subscription-based Odwyerpr.com.) Stock options could bring that even higher.

Yes, the verdict in the Rhode Island lead paint trial has created the tort version of bird flu. Not only is this ruling in favor of a public nuisance going to embloden other states to pursue similar lawsuits (read editorial "Motley Legal Crew" free in today's online THE WALL STREET JOURNAL). It's going to hobble economic growth in America, just as the bird flu will in any nation it hits.

Reputations can be made in war. Was journalist Jill Carroll thinking this way when she decided to represent THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR in a war zone?

Or was she simply reckless? Like Carroll, I am a freelancer and never did it occur to me to put myself in harm's way for a publication which didn't even pay my health insurance or sock away something for my pension.